You should be grinding two-start pitchers to give you an advantage over your competition during the season.

Each week, I will give you a breakdown of the two-start options for your fantasy leagues broken up into the following tiers:

• Must Start: Pitchers you have to start because of their talent/matchups.
• Should Start: Pitchers rostered in most formats and who should probably be in your lineup.
• Here We Go: Pitchers you are probably starting in most formats, but who come with some level of risk.
• Feeling Lucky: Pitchers available in fewer than 25% of leagues that are risky, but viable in deeper formats.
• Desperate Measures: Pitchers you shouldn’t use unless you have no choice.

Make sure you are aware that when making fantasy baseball start or sit decisions that these projected two-start pitchers are subject to change.

• Fantasy Baseball Research & Advice
• Fantasy Baseball Trade Analyzer
• Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Assistant
• MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
• Rest-of-Season Projections

Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers

Must Start

• Carlos Rodon  (SP – NYY) vs. SD, at ATH
• Seth Lugo (SP KC) vs. CWS, vs. BOS
• Cole Ragans (SP – KC) vs. CWS, vs. BOS
• Pablo Lopez (SP – MIN) vs. BAL, vs. SFG
• Bryce Miller (SP – SEA) at ATH, vs. TOR
• Nathan Eovaldi (SP – TEX) at BOS, at DET
• Michael King (SP – SD) at NYY, at COL
• Corbin Burnes (SP – ARI) vs. NYM, vs. LAD
• Zac Gallen (SP – ARI) vs. NYM, vs. LAD
• Chris Sale (SP – ATL) vs. CIN, at PIT
• Zack Wheeler (SP – PHI) at TB, at CLE

Should Start

Drew Rasmussen (SP, RP – TB) vs. PHI, vs. MIL

Drew Rasmussen has been great this season, throwing 30.2 innings with a 2.64 ERA and 30 strikeouts. The only concerning issue is that both of these starts are at home, which is a tough place to pitch, but with how he is pitching, Rasmussen shouldn’t be benched.

Jose Berrios (SP – TOR) at LAA, at SEA

Jose Berrios has been up and down this season, but he has been pretty good lately, and the Angels matchup is juicy and hard to pass up.

Shane Smith (SP, RP – CWS) at KC, vs. MIA

Shane Smith has been great this season, throwing 32.1 innings with a 2.23 ERA and 26 strikeouts. He has two fantastic matchups versus two offenses that have struggled this year against right-handed pitching. Smith is pretty much a must-start in all formats.

Here We Go

Lucas Giolito (SP – BOS) vs. TEX, at KC

Lucas Gioltio made his season debut after missing the first month of the season with a hamstring injury. He looked good for the most part, but struggled with command and control, which is common for pitchers in their first season back from Tommy John surgery. These are great matchups, but the command and control issues make Giolito a bit of a risk.

Sandy Alcantara (SP – MIA) vs. LAD, at CWS

I think most people would be shocked to see Sandy Alcantara down this low, but he has been rough this year and struggled mightily with his command and control coming off Tommy John surgery.

Alcantara has a tough matchup at the start of the week and an easy one at the end. There is always the risk that a postponement pushes his second start into the following week, and you have to just eat the early start versus the Dodgers.

Matthew Boyd (SP – CHC) vs. SF, at NYM

Matthew Boyd has been great this season, throwing 33.1 innings over six starts with a 2.70 ERA and 30 strikeouts. He has struggled with walks a bit, but has had good command and has the Cubs’ offense supporting him. I am less afraid of the Giants than I am of the Mets’ offense, but there is some risk.

Brady Singer (SP – CIN) at ATL, at HOU

Brady Singer has pitched well this season, throwing 33.1 innings over six starts with a 3.24 ERA and 36 strikeouts. While he is on the road and away from the dangerous Great American Ball Park, these are not great parks, and his opponents have been better as of late, so this is a risky week for him to keep things going.

Feeling Lucky

Luis Severino (SP – ATH) vs. SEA, vs. NYY

Luis Severino has been great this season, throwing 43.2 innings with a 3.30 ERA with 33 strikeouts. However, he has been very lucky with a .260 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and his xERA is 4.21. He has two tough matchups at home in Sacramento’s small Minor League ballpark, so there is a ton of risk here.

Landen Roupp (SP, RP – SFG) at CHC, at MIN

Landen Roupp has struggled this season, but he has been pretty unlucky with a low strand rate and extremely high BABIP. His xERA is 3.33, and while the Cubs matchup is tough, the Twins have been bad offensively and might be worth the risk of the front half of the two-step.

Sean Burke (SP – CWS) at KC, vs. MIA

Sean Burke is coming off one of his best starts of the season and has two great matchups this week. That said, there is a lot of risk here as his stuff has been mediocre, at best, and his command and control have not been much better. If you like to gamble, this is an interesting one, but one that could blow up in your face.

Luis L. Ortiz (SP, RP – CLE) at WAS, vs. PHI

If you don’t count his first start of the season, Luis L. Ortiz has been pretty good, throwing 27.1 innings over his last five starts with a 3.29 ERA with 34 strikeouts. That said, the command and control have not been great. Ortiz has one tough matchup and one difficult one, but both teams strike out at a high ra,te which may be enticing enough to roll the dice here.

Desperate Measures

• AJ Smith-Shawver (SP – ATL) vs. CIN, at PIT
• Tobias Myers (SP – MIL) vs. HOU, at TB
• Carmen Mlodzinski (SP, RP – PIT) at STL, vs. ATL
• Miles Mikolas (SP – STL) vs. PIT, at WAS
• Chase Dollander (SP – COL) vs. DET, vs. SD
• Tyler Anderson (SP – LAA) vs. TOR, vs. BAL
• Cade Povich (SP – BAL) at MIN, at LAA
• Andrew Abbott (SP – CIN) at ATL, at HOU
• Ronel Blanco (SP – HOU) at MIL, vs. CIN

Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | SoundCloud | TuneIn